Maunder minimum

Lean, J. L., O. R. White, and A. Skumanich, On the Solar Ultraviolet Spectral Irradiance during the Maunder Minimum, Global Biogeochem. Cycles, 9, 171-182 (1995b). 

Age from 1450 to 1850. The long-term component has been scaled to agree with the estimate of an overall increase in total irradiance from the Maunder Minimum to the present of 0.24% (Lean et al., 1992,1995b). 

Lean, J., A. Skumanich, and O. White, Estimating the Sun s Radiative Output during the Maunder Minimum, Geophys. Res. Lett., 19, 1591-1594 (1992). 

They thought the Sun had to be perfect and that spots would be an insult to God. Incidentally, there is evidence that solar activity can affect our weather and climate. For example, from 1645 to 1715, there was a period (called the Maunder minimum) when there were hardly any sunspots, and Earth s weather was unusually cold. ... 

The Maunder minimum is the name given to a period of extreme solar inactivity that occurred between 1645 and 1710. Of particular interest is that this period of inactivity corresponds closely to one of the coldest periods of the so-called Little Ice Age in Europe, a time of long, cold winters that caused severe hardships in the pre-industrial revolution world. This has led scientists to extensively study the possible influences of solar activity on terrestrial climate, as well as examine other stars for evidence of activity cycle behavior similar to the Sun s. 

Examinations of the solar activity cycle and the unusually cold weather of the Maunder minimum period have spurred significant controversy among astronomers, atmospheric scientists, and climatologists. The period from about 1300-1715 is known as the Little Ice Age in Europe, a period characterized by unusually long and cold winters. This period coincides closely with the time during which the Sun is known to have had time of inactivity, with some of the worst weather occurring squarely during the Maunder minimum. 

Despite the ongoing controversy, for which there is decidedly no definitive answer as of the year 2000, there is no doubt the Maunder minimum years were a time of significant misery in Europe, with the long, harsh winters leading to shortened growing seasons, failed crops, and widespread famine. Whether, or to what degree, the Sun is responsible for this, is an important question for atmospheric scientists and astronomers to tackle over the next few decades. 

Shindell, D.T., Schmidt, G.A., Mann, M.E., Rind, D. Waple, A. (2001) Solar forcing of Regional Climate Change during the Maunder Minimum. Science 294, 2149-2152. 

Shindell, D.T., G.A. Schmidt, M.E. Mann, D. Rind, and A. Waple, Solar forcing of regional climate change during the Maunder minimum. Science 294, 2149, 2001. 

The question of longer periods of solar irradiance has been hotly debated in recent years. Such possible variations are inferred from historical records of variations in sunspots, the so-called Maunder Minimum in the late 1600 (Eddy, 1976), analogues with other sunlike stars, and paleo measurements of radioactive isotopes supposedly coupled to solar variations. Cubasch et al. (1997) forced a coupled climate model with data provided by Lean et al. (1995) as well as by Hoyt and Schatten (1993) for the period 1700 until the present. As would be expected, when the fluctuations are on a time scale of centuries or so, the model response broadly follows the forcing. The linear warming trend for the 100 years 1893-1992 is 0.19 and 0.17 K, respectively. 

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